Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!

The iceandfire‘s team wants to thank all for your support during 2011. It's been a fantastic year and we are looking forward to an even better one next year, but like many small arts companies, we are facing a tough year ahead, financially speaking.

If you’re feeling full of Christmas cheer, you can make a one off donation or  become a regular donor. Even £2 a month would make a huge difference for us.

We are delighted to announce that Douglas Rintoul has been confirmed as the Director who will take The Art of Dying project forward through its R&D phase.

For any of you that might have been sleeping at the back, Douglas Rintoul joins iceandfire for this project with a wealth of theatre-making experience and a flair for dazzling stage composition. Douglas is the Artistic Director of Transport, an international arts company, but he has also worked extensively as freelance director across Europe, including commissions with Complicite and Deborah Warner.

Douglas has already formed some beautiful ideas for this project as an act of remembrance and also as a celebration of life and community – and we’ll take him to some more of London’s inspiring and handsome cemeteries in the coming weeks (lucky Douglas!).

In other news, we have also been speaking to the programmers of next summer’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival – but we’ll have to tell you more about that next time…

Developing our new documentary script on the impact of the government spending cuts has been a conflicting and unsettling experience. 

We have been busy over the past few weeks interviewing lots of people and we've found that we’re not speaking to people who think that life owes them a living, but people who never thought they would find themselves in this situation, who have worked hard, paid their taxes, made sacrifices, and have done the best they can with the hand that life has dealt them. 

We are still looking to hear from people who might have been affected by the cuts, or if you or anyone you know might want to speak to us, you can contact us in confidence at

Annecy@iceandfire.co.uk

or on 020 7377 5299.

For those of you who are not London based and those in London who couldn't come along to On the Record at the Arcola this year - we are currently in the planning phase for a UK tour of our critically acclaimed show.

If anyone has links with venues you think may be interested, do let us know. More details soon.

Crisis at Christmas are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change.

If you are an actor or entertainer, see how you can help here.
Education and engagement can transform the lives of homeless people and Crisis at Christmas provides an exciting opportunity to involve their guests in a range of stimulating activities.

PS

... if you are already planning a night out to the theatre in the New Year, iceandfire recommends King John at the Union Theatre, with Samantha Lawson as Constance, a member of our Actors For Human Rights network.